Preventive consultation, rather than focusing on individuals or specific problems, focuses on the environmental factors within a social setting that contribute to the incidence and prevalence of a specific problem. The ecological paradigm is a useful assessment for directing the design of a preventive consultation. The design focuses on the life…

Observing that conventional approaches to institutional solvency through staff reductions or alterations have not been very effective, the author advocates an organizational development approach to the student-faculty ratio dilemma. A systematic staff analysis plan is outlined and its advantages and disadvantages compared to the conventional…

It is argued that student services can save themselves by helping assure the significance and survival of the institution at large. The suggested strategy includes an assessment of underdeveloped areas and resources (staff, facilities, etc.) and their redeployment in new programs to meet institutional needs, e.g. commuter student or community…

Variables related to job satisfaction are discussed, such as technical and social skills required, and a four-process model is described: in-selection, out-selection, socialization, and counter-socialization. (Author)

An exploration of some of the relationships between organizational characteristics of a state education agency and the decision making process in federal program administration. The consequences of the structural characteristics of a professional organization for the administration of externally imposed policy are discussed, leading to some…

The management development program should respond to diagnosed needs of current and relevant data; the man responsible for it must have a variety of skills, and be able to gather data, analyze it, and intervene in the management process at the right moment with the right methods. (Author)

The article describes the organization and its activities in the areas of research, information and technical cooperation, and the promotion of social justice and peace. The granting of fellowships and the development of job training systems are aspects of the organization's technical assistance program discussed. (MW)

For the past two years, the authors have been designing and testing programed team development interventions for organizational development programs. Materials are planned for client system use either with or without consulting resources. The authors explain their theories and describe design issues involved in developing and implementing the…

The primary cause of difficulties in the implementation phase of planned change in business organizations is the lack of a parallel communication plan to facilitate the changes implied by new strategy. Planners usually concentrate on content (the strategy itself) to the neglect of process (how the strategy should be developed and implemented).…

This document contains five case studies of plants within large enterprises in the automobile industry (Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Renault, and Volvo), plus reports of each company's views on human resource development, new technology, and changes in work organization and skill formation. The document is composed of five narrative sections,…

Because schools must still respond to federal reporting requirements while exercising greater responsibility for funding and administering local programs that were once under state and federal administration, and because of the increased public outcry for local accountability, many school districts have maintained large central administrative…

A study was conducted to determine the important components of a comprehensive staff development program. To guide the investigation, a paradigm was constructed which identified the content areas of staff development as personal/professional, program/instructional, and organizational development; and which specified a statement of purpose or…

This study reports on the findings of a survey conducted to determine why people join school Cadres and to determine the ways in which these groups recruit, select, and train new members. Fifty-two responses were received from Cadre organizations in Oregon, California, New York, Florida, and Idaho. A profile of the typical Cadre member includes…

This chapter describes a new type of educational development, called student development; considers how student development relates to faculty, instructional, and organizational development; and describes innovative student development programs at several universities. As used in this discussion, the term student development involves a process by…

Quality circles are part of the movement to provide workers with increased autonomy, responsibility, and authority. Key elements of quality circles are the characteristics of their members, volunteer participation, regular meetings, training, problem identification, and solution implementation. The theoretical bases of quality circles include:…